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PREFACE. 
Without any attempt at literature, or any apol- 
ogies to add in sketching this little booklet, we 
have tried only to answer numerous persons who 
by letter or in person, seek to interview us. If we 
have made clear any thought worthy of merit or 
added to the story anything of interest, let the 
public judgre. Respectfully 

J. K. Ross. 



i 



Printed by Shiras Brothers, 
Mountain Home, Ark. 

Copyright Applied Foj 



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Old M atf s 
i e w Of It. 




ID it ever occur to the great multitude of 
book worms, when reading some interesting 
book of fiction, that has been written to pur- 
posely interest them, that some one has un- 
conciously been made a victim to give certain 
details to the story, or more ginger? If not 
let me cite you to one and incidentally to others too, as 
a lone victim would look too lonesome for anyone to get 
really interested in; so we will call in several of them 
that I am sure you might want to know something of 
whom they really were and what has become of them. 

The principal victim we start to think of was born 
way back among the Alleghany mountains of Pennsylvan- 
ia, in the early fifties, and later was partly raised in 
the less mountainous country of the western part of 
that state. As a boy he watched the soldiers march to 
war in the sixties, and practically became the head of a 
family at ten years of age, when the older head enlisted 
for the great strife that called men away from homes 
and families. To say that he was a successful family 
head could only be determined by special inquiry into 
details of family hfe, and how often the patient mother 
wielded her strap and shpper, a specific form of train- 
ing that was necessarily administered by the Queen 
Regent of the household. Boys are boys until they get 
to be men and then some are yet boys. To say that this 
one had an easy time of it in his new and added duties 



[2] 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 



would be a mistake, although he shouldered his honors 
gracefully; yet from going to school in wmter, feedmg 
toe stock mornings and evenings, gomg to the postoffice 
a mile and a half away at night for the expected letter 
from the older head who was doing duty m the army of 
the Potomac, and expecting any day to be left, not as he 
Crown Prince of the household, but from the expected 
word that the father had been killed, wounded or taken 
prisoner in some of the great battles of those cnt.cal 
times, being fought between the North and Soutii. for 
supremacy in certain human or unhuman nghts its 
head All had a tendency to make this boy feel that he 
was really a mm with a man's car,^s. Cares that wf re 
It times too much for one so young to carry. The counsel 
of a devoted mother, however, helped to smoo.h the 
thorny pathway and as time passed and news came that 
the father would soon be at home agam, that uhe ciuel 
war would soon be over and that the cares of li e would 
be lifted from his young shoulders, this boy began to 
feel his freedom once more as a boy. 

The close of the war loft those whose lives were 
snared free to return to their homes and again take up 
the broken strands where they left them years before, 
and instead of being expert at gun and sword practice 
to give their attention to the plow that bad rested and 
ruLd so long; to become producers again 'n-^ead of 
consumers; to give to their families, lon^ neglec ed 
the attention due them and to replace empty S^^^";; 
with com and wheat; to grow more live stock to re 
place what had been sold to keep the wolf from the door 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OP IT [3] 



during their long absence. Right here began this boy's 
future battle It was found necessary that every boy 
must make a hand in the field. The war had depleted 
the ranks of the young men; the boy had to do his part 
at the plow and at other farm work that he could do. 
He was hired out to a farmer to help bring in some of 
the income necessary to support a large family. After 
a couple of years the old home was sold at a good price. 
The farm consisting of about seven acres, with its big 
corn field, the meadow land and a pasture brought the 
sum of seven hundred dollars or $100 per acre. The 
family, with this great amount of money for them, to- 
gether with the personal effects, gave the family purse 
sufficient funds to move, and Westward they wandered 
into western Indiana The boy, advanced now more in 
years ^^nd stronger, worked again and helped pay for an 
80-acre farm among the swamps and sand hills peculiar 
to that country, but nevertheless fertile and productive. 
After a time here the family was stricken with ague 
and other sickness pecuhar to the country. Amidst the 
ever croaking bull frogs and high fever "time was 
tedious to the young," and the boy now approaching 
manhood but whose health was wrecked from fever and 
ague found it necessary to embark with a school teach- 
er to the West in search of health, and to grow up with 
the country. They were taken to the railroad station 
early one morning by the teacher's father who bid them 
goor] bye with— "I will look for you both back to help 
harvest." But the two young men assured him that he 
must depend on othor help, as they were going to the 



[4] OLD MATT'S VIEW OP IT 



then Far West, to become a part of that drift that was 
to become lodged in a wild country that afterward 
would swell into a mighty mass of populous humanity 
that it takes to make a state great. 

Their adventures, however, were not the kind to set 
the country ablaze. The school teacher soon tired of 
Western life and returned to his native home in the 
early fall. Let us remark here that the devotion to a 
sweetheart left behind hastened his conclusion. The 
boy was now a man and was left to mark out his own 
time but not without importunities to return with his 
old friend. But no! As he looked at it it would show 
weakness on his part. He had left no sweetheart to pull 
on the home coming strings of love and passion. Be- 
sides he told the old folks when he left them that it 
would take a year at least to satisfy him, if not longer. 
With this determination he set himself to stay any at- 
tempt at homesickness, and accepted the best opportu- 
nities that came his way. To make himself at liome 
among strangers in a strange land. Months extended 
to years. The seasons changed from summer to winter 
and again from winter to spring. Letters came regular- 
ly from the old home in the East with strong invitations 
to return, but he was not ready. 1'hat something about 
Western hfe that enchants one so much, held him fast 
to his new surroundings. The great fire that laid waste 
that great metropolis of the West, Chicago, offered West- 
erners inducements to go East and see the results of 
the great conflagation and to incidentally drop off and 
visit old friends in nearly every county. But the once 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OP IT [5] 



boy of the East, withstood all these desires as he had 
others, and held on to his Western prospects. As he 
became better acquainted with the people the better he 
liked them. Kansas at that time had very few that could 
caU Kansas their home, as the settlements were made 
up of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky folks, with 
once and a while a family from Virginia and Pennsylvan- 
ia and other far Eastern states. The young man could 
be at home with any of them. 

We recall once when travehng across the country, 
we stopped at a farm house to put up for the night. The 
farmer said, "It was as his wife said" and called her to 
the door. Her first question was, "Where are you from?" 
When told from Indiana she said "Why law yes, come 
right in, I would be glad to see a dog from Indiana." 
Needless to say we were made as comfortable as could 
be, with a parting word to come again. 

It is no wonder that the great West has become as 
one great fraternal organization, where the stranger 
is always made at home. It has produced for "the day," 
some of the greatest developments of modern age and 
men. 

Tlie young man found his principal stopping place 
on the banks of the Neosha river, below Burhngton, at 
one time a trading post. It was there he met with what 
helped to bring him in closer communion with the new 
country. A nursery man who had been orphaned in 
Ohio had drifted West and had finally settled on the rich 
Neosha table land, set out a large orchard, raised fruit 
trees to plant on the then wild prairies and also raised 



[Gl OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 



a large family of boys and girls that went in later days 
to help make up the citizenship of that great state. 
The young man became attached to one of the girls and 
married, and with one to help him started to make a 
home of his own. Everything was going in the usual 
course; some stock was being accumulated and the re- 
sources were growing yearly. Then came the great 
grasshopper year that has gone dowm into Kansas his- 
tory. They swept the crops before them, leaving in 
their wake a desolate path as if a great fire had swept 
over and cleaned the earth of all in its way. It now be- 
came necessary to cast around for some occupation to 
turn to, to cover the loss of crops and provide a living 
for his family and stock. He was not alone in this great 
distress of want and famine. Others too had to make 
arrangements to sell w4iat they had or move out. Just 
when everything began to look serious friends in Iowa 
sent a pressing invitation to come where work was 
plentiful with feed to spare. With their belongings load- 
ed into a wagon the young couple started for that North- 
ern harbor of plenty, and after the first day out became 
a part of a long train slowly treking Eastward to join 
friends who had plenty and to spare This move was only 
intended to be temporary, for all had intended to return 
to their j) laces now made desolate, and again strive for 
a living in the land they loved. A year's absence would 
probably remove all difficulties and again give a chance 
to sow and reap bountiful harvests. 

How many of these who left their homes on only a 
short leave of absence ever returned is a question hard 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [7] 

to answer, for when a pilgrim starts to travel there is no 
knowing where he will stop. After three weeks of travel 
the young couple landed in Iowa in the Skunk river bot- 
toms where indeed the crops had been bountiful. The 
road for the last few days of their journey had been lit- 
tered with corn fallen from overloaded wagons. The 
owners had not considered it worth while to stop and 
pick it up. It proved to be a blessing for the moving 
van on the road, as it lessened the expense for feed of 
teams. Incidentally we should remark that on our route 
North we passed through Kansas City, at that time 
perched on the dirt bluffs of the Missouri river. In pass- 
ing up the main street, that seemed to be the center of 
business at that time, we would judge that the town was 
about the size of Aurora, Mo., 4000 inhabitants. Westport, 
now a part of that great city. Ijay about four miles out. 
We crossed a street car track equipped with small cars 
drawn by mules that carried passengers between the 
Lwo towns that are now welded into one great solid built 
up city of thousands of people, with modern street cars 
penetrating every corner. Kansas City then was noth- 
ing but an overgrown village in a rich farming country. 
How time improves 

To return to our arrival in Iowa. We were supplied 
with good quarters and plenty of work. That winter 
though was one of the longest ever experienced. 
It seemed as if spring would never come. It was 
blizzard after blizzard, cold waves every day, ther- 
mometer below zero nearly all the time; it v/as something 
the young couple were unused to, for in Kansas late au- 



[8] OLD MATTES VIEW OF IT 

tumns and early springs, with warm balmy weather 
were the rule. But the young couple made the best of 
their surroundings and with plenty of work to do were 
soon recuperating what had been lost the year before. 
When summer came a pressing invitation was received 
by the young man to return to the old home in Indiana. 
The old father was sick, crops were neglected and help 
was scarce. With good inducements offered the young 
couple sold off their personal effects and this time in- 
stead of by wagon route, they took the train- for the old 
home the boy had left at the beginning of his manhood 
to seek his fortune in the great West. Things had chang- 
ed wonderfully in his few years of absence. The father 
and mother had become gray and stooped; the little tots 
had become young men and women; old associates had 
married, some gone to the West, others settled down 
near their old homes. A kindly welcome was extended 
the young Western couple, yet it was not home to them. 
They longed for their place in Kansas where the young 
wife had been raised and her family had become adopt- 
ed as one of a family that make up Western life. East- 
ern habits and customs were unlike Western life, lack- 
ing that freedom that belongs only to Western people. 
The people of Indiana, although it had been at one time 
considered a Western state had become conventional in 
their ways, that was noticed more particularly by those 
who had been West and returned. Yet with all these 
little differences, the young couple again set up their 
own household and tried to be satisfied with their lot. 
As time brings changes this young couple were blessed 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [9] 



by the advent of a young son and this event helped to 
make times more agreeable. More time was devoted 
now to planning to return West for the son that 
some day would become a part of a nation and pose 
as a hero to read about. Little was thought about what 
his actual future had been in those days. He was just 
a common poor man's baby boy. That was all, although as 
he grew to be more interesting and was jostled by aunts, 
uncles, parents, neighbors and young ladies, no vision of 
the future bothered him in the least. As time rolled on and 
the youngster was a year old the young mother sickened 
and died. The young father was left not only himself with- 
out a helpmate but with the young baby boy to be cared 
for. For four years the battle of life was kept up. The 
baby boy was cared for at different places, but at no 
time neglected by the lonely father who held his son as 
an ever binding link between him and her who had 
started to work out a future of their own. Plans of re- 
turn to the West were not thought of any more, for to 
return alone would only add sorrow to sadness. So on 
the prairies of west Indiana, amid great cornfields, 
the man found himself at home among farmers, to help 
till the great fields of corn, oats and wheat. The boy 
son was taken where he could be well looked after, with 
the anxious father who now bestowed all his affection 
on the only thing left of a once happy household. 

About this time there arrived in the same neighbor- 
hood a young woman from southern Indiana, a Kentuck- 
ian by birth, who had been left motherless when a small 
girl and who was reared by an uncle in the neighbor- 



[10] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

hood where lived the "Tall Sycamore of the West," and 
General Lew Wallace, who made his name famous with 
his rich brains. Needless to say this lass with Ken- 
tucky blood in her veins and amid favorable surround- 
ings of talent and genius was a bright spot in the com- 
munity. She had her own way to make through life 
unaided by wealth or its influence, and became a seams- 
tress, and worked long days and nights to please a pat- 
ronizing set of customers. It was during this time that 
the baby boy was kept by an old couple, at whose home 
was also the occasional stopping place of the father, 
that the young woman happened in some way, and 
took up her abode there and called it home. Interest in 
the boy baby was as much manifested as was that of the 
father. As time passed on this interest ripened into 
courtship and finally marriage. The baby boy had gain- 
ed another mother; the man a new helpmate to try life's 
stormy voyage again. Several years passed with noth- 
ing to mar their happiness. A new home was binlt in 
town; the man was honored by his fellow citizens and 
everything moved in the regular channel of life's road to 
success. The baby boy grew, and in time went to school 
and advanced fast in any study he undertook, was com- 
plimented for his brightness as much as those boys of 
wealthier parents. He was always able to entertain in 
his childish way either young or old, and as in after life 
when he grew to manhood he found delight in convers- 
ing with old people and had a way to interest everyone 
that he came in contact with. He had that peculiar gift 
of conversation to suit any company that he might be 



OLD MATTES VIEW OF IT [11] 

in, sometimes even clownish for certain young people. At 
other times he would delve into history and science with 
the older ones. He was a great lover of mechanics. This 
will all show how in after life the baby boy became an 
interesting companion to a bookman. 

The great wave of speculation came for homes in 
the Dakotas. Many families moved to that new coun- 
try. All that prevented this one family, the man, wife 
and boy from going was the failure to sell their home 
that they may have the use of the small capital to invest 
in a new home. Without it they must stay and wait. 
Next year instead of booming reports from the North- 
west, southwest Missouri came in for its share. Great 
advertising circulars were sent East to attract settlers 
to a portion of Missouri never heard of before. The 
railroad from Kansas City to Memphis through Spring- 
field, had made it possible for people to see this new land of 
untold wealth and health. A sale of the home was finally 
made and on an early March day, the man leaving the 
wife and son with friends started for the new country, 
leaving behind him great drifts of snow but landing 
after a two-days journey in a land of sunshine and peach 
blossoms He landed in West Plains, Mo., to look out a 
new place. As money was not to be spent carelessly he se- 
cured employment as a carpenter, and as was formerly 
agreed before he left home, not to send for the wife and 
boy until a place was secured where they would always 
stay, as if such was the habit of an American, once 
started on the road. Days became weeks. The man 
was not suited. While he found a people kind and hos- 



[12] OLD MATTES VIEW OF IT 

pitable, work and plenty of it was the field he was seek- 
ing and it was not here. Men came to town by the score in 
hunt of work to maintain their families. Things began 
to look uncertain in the work line and the man changed 
his base to Springfield, where work was more plenti- 
ful and after a short time the family joined him. To say 
that all was happiness would be a sad mistake, for 
among entire strangers and no one to go to for help if 
needed, added to the strained circumstances during the 
winter. A fire one day burning out a grocery store pav- 
ed the way for the man. He found employment and from 
then on gained favor and acquaintance enough that he 
was hardly ever idle. His boy went to school, learned 
fast and grew more interesting, gaining knowledge of 
men and things. The wife did her part to make the 
home one of cheer and happiness, such as belonged to 
the man who was dependant on wages for a mainten- 
ance. A new beginning had been made, and to keep 
to the front every detail was looked into that the family 
in this strange city and among strangers might make a 
creditable living all independent of the aid of old friends. 
A large house on a prominent street was rented and op- 
ened up as a hotel. The wife showed her ability in cook- 
ing and hotel management that kept the house well till- 
ed every day. The boy, when not in school, sold papers on 
the streets. The man weilded his hammer and his saw 
and revenue was added from all these, to add to the fam- 
ily fund for incidental usage. Finally the man became 
a building contractor and the hotel was left out of the 
business, but not without its benefits, for it was here 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [13] 

that the boy began to learn life's battles from others 
who talked of their ups and downs, misfortunes and 
fortunes, about the different ways to make things go, 
etc. This all had a tendency to awake the boy's mind 
to better things. On Saturday while not at school he 
would take his lunch and, with a few chums, go out in 
the country, always coming home fascinated with what 
he had seen, and he grew to love the country more than 
the city life that he had always been accustomed to. He 
had seen the want and misery of the city life and the 
lack of freedom. He enjoyed the hunting and fishing of 
the country and listening to the songs of wild birds, the 
whirr of the reaper in the field, the independence of the 
plough boy and the cheerfulness of the farmer's life. 
When they told him and his chums to help themselves to 
ripening fruit so much enjoyed by them, the contrast of 
playing marbles and finding recreation in other city 
boy's sports did not appeal to him. The boy began to 
think about it all. Coming in one day after one of these 
jaunts to the country, he said, "Pa, let us move to the 
country. I can learn to plou^rh and raise corn." The 
wife also took to the boy's way of thinking. She could 
raise poultry, have chickens, butter and eggs to send to 
market. It would be of more interest to her than being 
a consumer all the time, in town where everything was 
to buy. The man, raised as he was on the farm, warmed 
up to the idea. The town property, that from years of 
hard toil had become their home, was traded for forty 
acres ten miles from town, with a good orchard, quite a 
comfortable house and altogether a pretty nice country 



[14] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

home. The family moved on to the new venture, but the 
man, being short of the necessary funds to buy all that 
was needed to carry on farming, still worked at building 
in town, while the boy, with one horse and the aid of a 
neighbor, put in a crop. The boy learned to till the soil, 
to gain a better knowledge of country life, and at the 
end of the week when the father returned the boy could 
always tell what he had accomplished and what he had 
learned. In the fall it was the boy's delight to load up 
the good, fresh apples, carefully packed in boxes, and 
haul them to town to market, where he was always 
welcomed by his old acquaintances and a top price paid 
for his apples, all good and fresh. He was satisfied to 
find himself in the position of a producer and a vender 
of his own products. Coming home one night, he said: 
"No more city for me. The boys are all glad to see me 
and want me to come and stay in town some, but Pa, I 
don't want to. I have not the time; besides here in the 
country there is so much more fun. Real solid enjoy- 
ment, whether at work in the field or orchard, at the 
neighboring postoffice or visiting with the neighbors." 
It was all real fun and keen enjoyment. A life such as 
he was beginning to realize that a boy grew to be a man 
for. 

The great drouth up in the Dakotas drove many 
people to the South seeking for a place that they might 
find a milder winter climate and where crops 
were more abundant; where they might live more easily. 
Coupled with this Northern drought was a greater, 
more widely spread disease called panic. During this 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OP IT [15] 



winter banks failed, business houses became bankrupt, 
and laboring men were thrown out of work. The farm- 
er likewise suffered from the scarcity of money to 
meet obligations. And everything showed general 
depreciation in value, including land. It was during 
this panic that the man, wife and boy began to realize 
that they too, were hard pressed to meet demands on 
additional land that had been bought. A mortgage had 
been given to secure the debt. Times were hard indeed, 
and money to meet the interest could not be 
raised. The holder of the note insisted that it must be 
paid. Foreclosure was ordered and the land advertised 
to sell. The foreclosure never took place, however, as 
the place was sold before the time set, at private sale, 
to one of the many homeseekers who were then coming 
in from the droughts-tricken North. 

It bought enough to put the family on their feet 
again, but homeless. A short time previous to this the 
boy had made a trip to tiie White river country and had 
come home all aroused over the new country he had 
seen. He liked the people he had met far from railroads 
and big towns. He saw how contented they were, those 
plain, backwoods folk. They knew nothing of the panic; 
just hved anyhow on God-given things. They had 
plenty of hogs for meat, wild turkey, deer, fish and pro- 
ductive farms. What cared they for panics? The boy 
stated that government land was plentiful. A new home 
could be made. The wife and her sister, who had in the 
meantime become a member of the family, demurred on 
account of society, a lack of places to go foreig-n to 



[16] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 



pioneer life. But the man and the boy insisted on the 
change. A trip was made to select a location, and one 
hot day in August the man found himself, by the aid of 
an old settler, looking over a quarter section of land high 
up on the mountain top, in view of a signal tree so des- 
ignated by the government geological department. The 
day was hot, yet in the forest of this mountain there 
was invigorating air; a cooling breeze swept through, 
and on the whole the location was so inviting that the 
man said to the old settler, "Here is the place for our 
new home." The man too had seen from this trip the 
kind hospitality of the people of this secluded land and, 
although the land was very rough, he could see the pos- 
sibilities ahead. Others would soon be coming to take 
up land, and for the same reason that he had. Return- 
ing to Springfield, he filed on the land. Then he re- 
turned to the old place called home. The wife and boy 
were told that a new possession had been secured. No 
mortgages, no taxes for the next five years to bother 
them. The crops on the old place were retained and 
had to be cared for. There was a small crop of wheat 
and an abundant crop of apples There was a hurried 
harvest and arrangements were hurriedly made to move 
to the new mountain home before winter. The father 
and son made a trip with a load of tools and necessary 
supplies. Immediately upon their arrival they began 
the erection of a house. As sawmills were scarce in 
those days and a long haul was necessary to get lumber, 
they decided to build a log house. This kind of building 
material was plentiful Many things were to be looked 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [17] 

after before the family could all be together again. In 
Low Gap, high up between two ridges, it was decided to 
build the new house, the Matthews home, as the loca- 
tion, besides being convenient to all parts of the moun- 
tainous farm, gave an excellent view of the surrounding 
country. On the southeast Kirbyville loomed up im- 
pressively. Twenty miles to the northeast one could 
see Taney ville though the azure space, and away down 
in Baxter county, Arkansas, could be seen a mountain 
with a signal tree towering high up in the sky against 
the green background of the far-reaching hills. Again 
in Ozark county arose two bald knobs that stood out 
prominently among their lesser brothers as silent senti- 
nels. To the south, over to the farthest tier of moun- 
tains, the eye could wander over all of north Arkansas, 
and by the aid of a small field glass farmers could be 
seen at work on their small mountain farms south of the 
White river. To the north eight miles was as far as the 
vision reached. On their own mountain was scenery 
that fascinated the soul. There was also rich, black 
soil to produce the necessities of life, and with renewed 
energy the father set to work to build a new home. The 
boy and the man with axes felled the giant white oak 
trees. They hewed and shaped the logs for the dwell- 
ing; but work as fast as they could, the house was not 
completed by fall. A room was rented, however, on 
Pall creek with a kind neighbor and his wife, and just 
before Thanksgiving the father returned from Green 
county with the wife and sister, and while the tempora- 
ry home was made on the creek, the father and son con- 



[18] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

tinued their work of building. During the winter the 
house was brought to practical completion and the fam- 
ily moved in, in the early spring. To speak of the joys 
and inconveniences incident to that new home would 
take long to tell. A house and home in the woods with- 
out a yard fence; a place yet to be cleared for the fami- 
ly garden and fenced, with more land, later on; and the 
land to be broken up and planted to corn furnished work 
enough for several men, but these tw^o, father and son, 
without capital but with plenty of vim, went to work. 
Soon the garden, the first thing to be thought of, was 
prepared, and here the "Aunt Mollie" to-be planted her 
early vegetables. The father and son next turned their 
attention to clearing up a field for corn and potatoes. To 
see things grow and to cast a wondering eye over the 
beautiful landscape of the bills was company for the 
time being. The making of the new home absorbed all 
other thoughts. High up on the mountain where the 
very air breathed a new inspiration of life, time passed 
rapidly. The season passed over as seasons do. The 
harvest and the garden were all that could be expected, 
the virgin soil yielding a bountiful crop. The work of 
clearine: more land was continued. 



OLD MATT'S VIEW O F IT [19] 

CHAPTER II. 

While in the clearino: one morning, the father and son 
being busy splitting rails, there rode up two young men 
on horseback. One was an old acquaintance of the 
boy from near Aurora, an old business chum, who in 
former years had been a partner in a threshing machine. 
His companion was a tall, sharp looking young man, 
that to all appearance carried together a look of intelli- 
gence and business. After a friendly salute and a little 
chat, the two said they must be on their way. They 
were trying to locate the father and brother of the man 
of culture that had wandered down into the wilderness 
of Arkansas, trapping and hunting, and who were sick 
and in need of help. A friendly good-bye was passed 
and they started off to the east on their errand of mercy 
to help an old father and brother to the needs of 
life. But their plans were blocked; for when they 
reached Hensley's Perry on White river, it was found 
that the river had been swollen from recent rains to 
such a depth that ferrying was out of the question for a 
day or two at least. The two were up against it, and 
wheeling their horses they started on the back track 
and reached the mountain home again that day after 
swimming several creeks. They rode in about dark 
and were entertained by the homesteader and his son. 
The man of culture said that he must be in Pierce City 
within the next two days to marry a young couple that 
were good friends of his, and, as the waters of the 
White river had prevented their hurried mission to the 
hills, they would return and start over again. It was 



[20] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

while on this trip that man of culture and intelligence 
and who proved to be a minister, took in the surround- 
ing scenery, casting an admiring eye on Dewey Bald, 
admiring the view of Kirbyville, twelve miles away, and 
again at the mountains away south. The scenery charmed 
him. The peaceful quiet of the hills held his interest. 
It was the beauties that he saw on this trip that he 
afterward proclaimed to the world in print. Next morn- 
ing with a pleasant parting and a cordial invitation 
from the homesteader and his son to come again they 
left. 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OP IT [21] 



CHAPTER III. 

The season passed; crops were again raised and 
nearly ready for the harvest. It was early in July when 
one day a wagon heavily loaded with a camp outfit drove 
up with several people. The cultured man was there 
and with him the father and son, who had been located 
away down in the swamps of northeast Arkansas, sick 
and in need and rescued. They had been taken 
home, recuperated in health, and now made part of the 
party on an outing such as can be had only in the Ozark 
country. The homesteader gave them cheerful welcome. 
The wife extended friendly greeting to the minister's 
wife and a lady friend, both women of culture and re- 
finement, and all bent on having a jolly time. Tents 
were raised and the party were at home to enjoy them- 
selves, hunting, reading, writing and breathing in the 
exhilerating mountain air. It was observed that the 
minister and his wife took long tramps over the hills, 
canvas and brushes being part of their daily equipment, 
and it developed later that the minister was an artist 
and that he was also busy writing manuscript for a book 
of some kind. Several weeks passed. There were horse- 
back rides and hunting and visits back and forth to the 
homesteader's house, and a good time was enjoyed by 
all. It was while in camp that an old sheep herder and 
his faithful dog called on the party. He would come and 
sit and chat while his sheep grazed over hill and dale at 
will. He and his faithful dog drove the sheep home at 
night down the hollow to the corral, where they would 
be safe from harm from any prowling wolf in search of 



[22] OLD MATTES VIEW OF IT 

mutton chops. Hence Mutton Hollow and the old sheep 
trail came into print. Time came to break camp. The 
minister must return after his vacation to his pastorate 
out West. Goodbys and leave-takings were spoken with 
strong feelings of friendship and the party left, saying 
they would be back another year to camp and enjoy the 
quiet mountain life. 



OLDMATT'S VIEW OF IT [23] 



CHAPTER IV. 

A year had passed. An occasional letter had been 
exchanged by campers and homesteaders. During that 
time the homesteader was notified that an express pack- 
age awaited him at Marionville, some fifty miles away, the 
nearest railroad point. The elder homesteader made 
the trip, which took three days with a team. He stopped 
at the mill at the same time for a fortnight's supply of 
flour. The package was prepaid and upon returning 
home it was found to contain a lot of choice magazines 
and a large family Bible with the name of the donors 
neatly subscribed on the fly leaf. Needless to say this 
one item will be treasured long after the campers and 
the homesteader have passed away. Then came the 
best of all, "That Printer of Udells," a handsome book 
and a strong healthy story of the Ozarks, the result 
of the camp life and the companionship that was enjoy- 
ed the year before. 

The minister returned again in the late fall with a 
physician of Pittsburg, Kas., a member of his church. 
Several days were spent in the hills hunting, and sev- 
eral trips were made to White river where the fish were 
disturbed, but not many of them ever left the river. 
The twomen, with the young homesteader, would turn in 
at night with appalling appetites, weary and tired out. 
Rejuvenated, the minister and the doctor returned to 
their homes in the West. The one to his parish, fresh- 
ened up in mind and body from breathing the pure 
mountain air, the other to his practice, to visit the sick 



[24] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

with renewed energy. Correspondence was now kept 
up, with future plans to visit again the mountains the 
next year for a three months vacation. 



OLD MATTES VIEW OP IT [25] 



CHAPTER V. 

It was one hot day in July; corn had been laid by, 
and the homesteader and his son were at work on their 
saw mill. The farmers, now that crops were laid by, 
were turning their attention to building. Not constuct- 
ing houses patterned after the styles of the older coun- 
try, but plain little mountain homes. Even when the 
house was to be made of logs, they had to have lumber 
for flooring, sheeting to nail the roof to, and other 
boards. Lumber too was used in the building of the 
stables for their stock. About the time that year the 
homesteader and his son were getting ready to go to 
work in the sawmill, there drove up one day a heavily 
loaded dray from Galena. It contained a large tent, 
carpets, chairs, a desk and numerous other things that 
go to make up a complete camping outfit. The minister, 
who had left his pulpit far behind, had the appearance 
of a weary traveler. He was garbed in straw hat and 
colored shirt. For pants he wore a pair of blue overalls. 
After friendly greetings he asked the homesteader if he 
could pitch his tent where he would choose. When as- 
sured that he could, and everthing would be done to his 
desire, after a careful survey, he selected a knoll in 
the midst of the growing corn now in roasting ear. A 
liigh place, so he might have the advantage of an ob- 
structed view of Dewey Bald, and other ridges that 
stretched away as far as the eye could reach. The pur- 
l)ose of his visit this time was to write another book. 
The tent was set up; a floor was sawed out by the old 
homesteader and his son at the mill, and the rooms were 



[26] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

arranged. A fine studio was made with a southern ex- 
posure, neatly carpeted and furnished with easy rock- 
ing chairs. Lamps were hung from the ridge pole, and 
all arranged in modern form. In the meantime the son 
was engaged to help gather data and to pilot the minis- 
ter around the country and through the mountains. 
They tramped day after day over the country, noting 
what this man and that boy had to say and the way they 
said it. They studied nature and the character of the 
hills. 

Preaching Bill, that lived over south on Com pton road, 
was employed by the homesteader in his farm work and 
to help run the saw mill. Preaching Bill, one of those 
mountaineers somewhat deficient in education but en- 
dowed with talent to talk after his crude way of reason- 
ing, attracted the bookman. He often visited the tent 
for a cool drink, and although ofttimes quite annoying, 
was endured. Preaching Bill had a curiosity and it was 
thoroughly aroused to see what was doing. It was at 
such times that the bookman was able to catch many of 
his quaint sayings. Bill had a large family — worked a 
great deal but liked to fish better than any man in the 
country He was also full of information; could tell 
you just how and where moonshine was made, and of 
the numerous narrow escapes from revenue men; just 
how long white mule would keep, and how much ashes 
to put in a batch of corn to give it the proper red. In 
fact what Bill did not know about everything was hard- 
ly worth encumbering ones mind with. He finally sold 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [27] 



his homestead and moved to Oklahoma, where he now 
resides. 

Among the many visitors was Sammy Lane, who at 
that time was receiving attentions from the old home- 
steader's son. She often stayed with the Matthew fam- 
ily to help Aunt Mollie with work, and it was during 
such periods as these that the bookman, a close observ- 
er, could gather notes and make deductions, as he took 
his meals with the homesteader's family. She often in 
company with the son. Young Matt, spent much time at 
the bookman's tent, pouring over volumes of books that 
treated on all topics. A strong friendship sprung up 
between them all. 



[28] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

CHAPTER VI. 
"But where is Sammy now?" is often asked by 
many. She and the younger Matthews did not marry. 
Circumstances that always come when not expected 
called her to go away for a time to secure employment 
and make her own way. She found herself deserted by 
one now expected to help and stand by her, and too 
pround to appeal to Young Matt in her distress, she 
went West to a sister and there remained. Although 
called on and visited by Young Matt, another had claim- 
ed her heart, and Young Matt returned home saddened 
by the fact that he had lost his sweetheart. Sammy, 
at the last account we had of her, had been twice mar- 
ried and as many times left a widow. Her lot had been 
cast along a thorny pathway, with the thorns often 
piercing her tender feet. Happiness and sorrow to- 
gether bore down on that young life, "that tried the 
path that nobody knows how old," to realize both the 
upper and lower levels to which it leads us all. 

"Where is Young Matt?" ask many. We feel it our 
duty to answer the question. After his disappointment 
with Sammy had worn off, he, like other young men 
with brave hearts, did not go and drown himself, nor 
did he vow that he would never again be caught in a 
love scrape. Somehow, though, the old home had ceased 
to be the place he wanted to stay. The father, 
without his son's help, did not feel that he and 
"Aunt Mollie" should be left alone to manage 
the large ranch without his son's help. Arran- 
gements were made and the father and son start- 
ed a small business on the new White River railroad. 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [29] 



now opened up for traffic down the valley of Roark 
creek. The older man became postmaster at the little 
town of Garber; the younger, his assistant and partner 
in business. Old Kate, that raised the mule, had died. 
The young mule and an older sister had become a team, 
and Young Matt took many a ride on their backs, over 
hills he had long loved. 

Time changes and helps to erase a great deal of the 
past. It also adds something else in its place. The 
Pacific coast was now attracting many, and the son now 
looked to the far West for his future. One day the son 
took the train from the very place he had helped to 
found as a flag station for the convenience of others; 
climbed aboard on the same railroad he had watched 
built from its beginning, and bidding his father and 
Aunt Mollie goodby, left behind him all the scenes of 
his childhood days. Landing in the desert country 
near where the ocean tides beat on sunburned shores 
the son found a location, but not until he had found a 
mate, who, in former years had shared her love with 
him but gone West and liad been awaiting- his coming. 
They two set out to build a future home. Many letters 
have since been received from the one who had taken 
Sammy's place in Young Matt's affections as a daughter 
to Old Matt and Aunt Mollie. 

The old sawmill with the grist mill burrs yet stands 
as he left it in the woods, a prey to tourists, who have 
carried away nearly everything about it but the boiler 
and flywheel for souvenirs. Of the engine that Young 



[30] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 



Matt loved and had time and time again put so much of 
his work andhfe into, around which so many had gath- 
ered to get their Uttle sack of meal, there is little left 
but the heavier parts Around this old plant the neigh- 
bors were wont to gather from Saturday to Saturday 
when they could discuss with friendly views the news 
of the settlement. It was at these meetings that Mr. 
Wright caught many of the expressions used in his 
book. The old engine now seems to say, "Why am I 
deserted; where is my young master gone?" Young 
Matt and his wife did not stay long in the desert, where 
life was strenuous and where the water they drank 
flowed not from fresh mountain springs like in the 
Ozark hills that they had always loved, but from great 
irrigation ditches far up the Colorado river. It was fil- 
tered and made to take the place of living springs. 
After a year of this life the young man, with his com- 
panion, moved to more fertile valleys of the West, where 
they now live. Young Matt is the engineer in a big 
packing plant, with a loving wife to cheer him when he 
returns at eventide begrimed by the day's work. Old 
Matt still keeps the little postoffice, wrestling with the 
new rules that Uncle Sam lays down, and Aunt Mollie 
entertains the best she can the many who call to pay 
her homage in her evening of life's journey over "the 
path that is nobody knows how old." 

The postoffice at the cross roads is still presided 
over by the same old Uncle Ike of "The Shepherd of the 
Hills," and he is often called to pose for a snap shot, some- 
times in the right humor, and at others, "ba thundas," 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OP IT [31] 



everything is wrong. The old chair that rocked and 
creaked in the days of Harold Bell Wright's visits has 
been replaced by another. The office has been moved 
out of the dwelling house to a place by itself, but the 
same old ways of the government representative are un- 
changed, except that he is getting older and more en- 
feebled by age. The Compton road winds its way over 
the ridge as then, with here and there a change. White 
Slick Rock ford, named from its slipperiness, over 
which many a team has fallen, in spite of the utmost 
care for fear of crippling a horse, is still the same. 
Dewey Bald, so named from the fact that many years 
ago a cattleman by that name had his camping place at 
its base, still raises its head majestically in the azure sky. 
The cool refreshing breezes of summer and the cold 
blasts of winter alike play on its sides and summit in 
the seasons, and the tourists find a haven of rest there 
while looking over Mutton Hollow, and again at the 
trains as they run swiftly up and down Roark creek; 
the prophecy of Harold Bell Wright has been fulfilled. 
The old signal tree stands out in bold relief proclaiming 
to all the world the grandness of the Ozark mountains, 
and as a beacon by day to help the visitor keep his 
course while wandering over the Ozark country. An 
automobile route is being arranged for at the present 
time that will encircle old Dewey Bald, that visitors with 
less inconvenience may take in the scenery, not only of 
the mountain but Sammy's Lookout, which is a picture 
and where many, with book in hand, have sat and looked 
back to the days when Sammy sat there and pondered 



[32] OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT 

over the future. The cabin in Mutton Hollow has been 
moved away; the old corral is no more. The old shep- 
herd met with a violent death a few years ago north of 
Aurora by an enraged bull. Wash Gibbs, Ollie, and 
Pete and his mother we fail to account for, as these be- 
long to the author. Many have asked us is this a true 
story. Our answer is, Yes, in the sense it was intended 
for, as all the locations and landmarks are being almost 
daily traced out, not only by the curious and sentiment- 
al, but by professional people of all callings. The min- 
ister can take a view of nature's two levels, the higher 
and the lower "trails of life". The doctor finds balm 
for his weary practice. The college professor finds 
something to lift his thoug^hts higher than just mere 
book study. Even the lawyer finds ways that his client 
may be benefited from his looking into the various re- 
cesses that offer a place of refuge if needed. 

The old Matthews home is there nearly as it was 
where Mr. Wright took his meals; but the old dinner 
bell that chimed him to dinner has been sold to the 
Presbyterian assembly and is doing duty on their en- 
campment ground on the hill across the river from 
Branson, Mo. The great beds of flowers that Aunt 
Mollie loved and kept in trim and among which Mr. 
Wright often rambled, lured by their sweet perfume, 
and that seemed to feed his mind with the loftiest of 
thoughts, is not there. The old farm has been sold to 
other parties, the mortgage paid off; but Old Matt and 
Aunt Mollie look back to those days of pioneer hard- 



OLD MATT'S VIEW OF IT [33] 



ships, mingled once in a while with joy, but regret that 
they parted with the old home. 

And now with apartingtribule toHaroldBell Wright, 
who builded greater than he reckoned; for have they not 
been coming from the far West, East, North and South 
to see for themselves the beauties of "The Shepherd of 
the Hills", as truly described by Mr. Wright, and to 
breathe in the pure and exhilerating mountain air, as 
he did? 



AUG 15 1953 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



I 



006 730 836 

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